Mobile phones: Does it create a positive or negative impact on learning?

The usage of smartphones is growing widespread. What was once a luxury and a costly affair, is today just another piece of technology. Today, mobile phones fill the hands of almost everyone – even school and college students. As schools and colleges embrace the concept of eLearning, mobile phones have replaced physical books to certain extent. Classroom learning is no longer the same as it was a decade or couple old. While it’s great in certain aspects, mobile phones do have an impact on children’s learning capabilities in different ways; one major impact being the time spent on non-academic activities during class hours.Other potential disruptions include loss in concentration and effective time spent on their studies.

Studies reveal that students who don’t use mobile phones during class hours are able to take down better notes and recollect more information and obtain a higher grade when compared to ones who used mobile phones during lecture hours. Researchers from Rutgers University in the United States performed an extensive study on students to understand the relationship between distractions when using mobile phones and laptops during class hours and their performance. As part of the study, mobile phones and laptops were banned for one half of the lectures while students were allowed to use them for the other half. Results revealed that having a mobile did not affect the scores in tests within the lecture but had an impact during the term end exams by almost 5% or half a grade.

On my personal interaction with students of different age groups to understand their perception, about 50% of them point out the benefits of using mobile phones in classrooms for better engagement and learning experience.There are situations when mobile phones can get annoying in a class –a student sending text message to others to distract their concentration, using social media and gaming to distract others.

The Negative Impact

Using mobile phones in classrooms impacts group learning. Having a mobile phone and simultaneously listening to class lectures impacts not only the one who uses it, but also the one who does not use it.Educational Psychology research studies point out that when a student who doesn’t use mobile phone attends lectures where it is permitted, their performance takes a hit. Overall, it impacts the performance during exams and their results. Studies also show that when mobile phones are completely banned from schools, the average test scores of children improved by 6%.

It’s in the hands of parents, teachers and the schools to let students know about the damaging effects of mobile phones.It’s their responsibility to set clear boundaries for mobile phone usage. It not only affects the results of their children but the whole class. Schools also have to have some strict guidelines on the usage of mobile phones.Using digital devices in the classroom could create a disconnect with other students. Parents must influence children from using mobile phones for unwanted purposes during class hours and let them focus on their education.

Why is it crucial that parents, teachers and students work together as a team to ensure the best for children!

A child’s development of personality begins right from home and school. Everything that a child does at home or at school is adding up one of his or her traits or abilities, and goes a long way in building the overall personality of a child. To bring the best in our children, it is very crucial that parents, teachers and students work in tandem, as a team.

We can never stress more on the importance of roles being played by both parents and teachers in a child’s development and yet, many a time, we are surprised to meet parents who are all-blames on teachers, and teachers, who are all-blames on parents. Unless all the three – the parents, teachers and students are working together towards a common goal, there shall always be some kind of hindrance in a child’s overall personality development. We decided to put together the 3 big reasons to why the trio-rapport between parents, teachers and children needs to be strong. Read on.

#1 – Children react differently at different environments and both parents and teachers need to have a clear idea on this to ensure best interests of a child

Isn’t it often that you have heard parents saying – I don’t understand why my kid is so talkative at school? She’s the quietest person at home and we’ve never caught her talking too much. Or if you are a parent, haven’t you heard teachers remarking comments like – Your child seems too drained and exhausted even when it’s the first hour at school. Has he been sleeping alright? Well, it is more common than you may think. Children behave differently at home as compared to how they behave at school.

Some children who are total introverts at school exhibit extreme extrovertedness at home and vice versa. This calls for attention because such display of dual behaviours will affect the personality development in children. What’s the fix? A clear communication between teachers and parents, where parents know exactly what’s happening with your child at school and where teachers understand how a child behaves at home.

For once you’ve known clearly, both as a parent or a teacher, you can take required actions to strike a balance between a child’s behaviour at home and at school. It is extremely crucial in building the social and emotional skills of a child, which are moulded in children right from a tender age.

#2 – Parents’ involvement in a child’s development is as important as ever, even when children have been enrolled in some of the best schools in the city

We often urge parents to break the notion which is spread so widely among parents – We have enrolled our children to one of the best schools. Our part here is over. And now, it is the responsibility of teachers to ensure the best for our children. As long as parents hold onto the same belief, it is impossible to bring out the best version of our children – because it is home where children spend most time in and it is parents with who children spend the most time with! So, what is happening at home and the relationship between parents and children has a direct influence not only on a child’s academic performance but also on his or her overall personality! Thus, a collective approach on part of both parents and teachers is what is most needed.

#3 – Parents must be informed of a child’s progress as most part of implementation happens at home

Providing creative assignments and tasks that add value to a child’s personality is something most teachers do. But once a child gets back home after school, the responsibility shifts onto the parents to ensure that your child is using the right ways to complete his/her assignments. Many children simply try to replicate the same work as their friends, limiting their own thinking abilities.

If parents have turned a blind eye to this, it is quite possible that teachers would never know that a child is not really involving or applying one’s own brains in completing tasks, but is relying on other peers to do the same. Thus, it’s important for teachers to keep parents informed about what’s happening at school and as for parents, it is important to keep a check on how much involved or invested your child is in the given activity. What happens when you don’t? You will become aware that your child hasn’t really understood the concepts right only at the time when the results are out and then it might be too late to reflect on the same.